Metal corner for construction panels



Sept. 2, 1958 R. w. MELDRUM 2,849,757

METAL CORNER FOR CONSTUCTION PANELS Filed Nov. 9. 1953 koy Me/rum M BY (h-Qnm ATTORNEY Uflilfd Stat 6S METAL CORNER FOR CONSTRUCTION PANELS Roy W. Meldruin, St. Paul, Minn.

Application November 9, 1953, Serial No. 390,941

6 Claims. oi. 20-5 This invention relates to an improvement in metal corner construction particularly designed for use with siding shingles or other similar types of constructionpanels.

During recent years the use of shingles of asbestos or other composition material has become increasingly popular. One of the difliculties involved, in the use of such shingles lies in the corner joints. If such shingles are to be applied rapidly, the corners between two right angularly arranged walls must be covered in order to prevent irregularities at these corners from becoming obvious. The present corner device is designed to overlap portions of shingles arranged in right angular relationship and to obviate the necessity of mitering the shingles at the corners and to eliminate the time ordinarily required to make tightly fitting joints.

An object of the present invention resides in the provision of a metal corner having two portions arranged at right angles each designed to overlap the marginal edge of the shingle adjacent such a'corner. These corner members are provided with inwardly extending flanges at their lower edges designed to underlie the corner portions of the adjoining shingles. The members are also ordinarily provided with upwardly extending flanges designed to extend within the inner surface of the adjoining shingles in order to hold these shingles in proper position.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a metal corner of the type describedwhich may be applied either during the constructionof the shingled walls or after the shingles have been applied. The corner members are provided near their upper ends with nail holes, through which nails may be driven to hold the corner members in place. Such nail holes are useful in the event the shingles are applied upwardly from the bottom of the surface and when they are applied as the construction progresses. However, the corners also include means for engaging the upper edges ofthe shingles so as to hold the corner members in-place in theevent the nails do not hold or in the event the corners are applied after the shingled surfaces are complete.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of metal corner members-of the type described which include inwardly extending elements de signed to engage the upper edges of a pair of rightangula'rly extending shingles. The metal corner members are formed of metal sheeting which is sufliciently thin to be forced between one pair of rightangula'rly arranged shingles positioned above the first mentioned shingles and in overlapping relation therewith. As the upper edges of the corner members are forced between the overlapping shingles, the inward pressure of the upper shingles urges the inwardly extending elements into engagement with the upper edges of the lower shingles; thus firmly holding the corner members in place.

An added feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a means for interlocking the corner members and thus holding the various elements in place. The upper ends of the corner members are provided with Patented Sept. 2, 1958 2 outwardly projecting means designed to engage the upwardly extendingflanges on the corner members of the next above row of shingles; thus interlocking the various corner members.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention are more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of the present invention:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the two overlapping rows of shingles showing my corner members in place thereupon.

Figure 2 is a sectional view through one side of the .corner members shown in Figure 1 showing the manner in which the corner members overlap.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a single corner member, the middle portion of the member being cut away.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing, diagrammatically, the manner in which the corner members overlap, the shingles being omitted to show the details of the corner member.

Figure 5 is an elevation view of a modified form of corner member.

The corner members A are normally constructed of sheet metal, although obviously other sheet material may be employed. In general the corner members comprise an elongated strip of the sheet material which is bent intermediate its longitudinal edges to provide r'ightang'ular strips 10 and 11. It is also believed obvious that similar corners can be constructed for use on the so called inner corners and corners which are not rightangular.

The strips or panels, 10 and 11, are provided at their lower edges with rightangularly extending flanges 12 and 13, respectively. In the formation of these flanges they are notched where the corners are outside corners so as to provide a mitered corner 14 therebetween. Upwardly extending flanges 15 and 16 are provided on the edges of the flanges 12 and 13, these flanges 15 and 16 extending in parallel relation to the panels 10 and 11, respectively. The end edges of the flanges 15 and 16 may be tapered as indicated at 17 and 19 to prevent a crowding of materials at the corners.

Nail holes 20 extend through the panels 10 and 11 at points spaced from the upper ends thereof. In the event the panels or shingles are applied from the bottom of the surface to be covered and the corners are attached after each tier of shingles is applied, these nail holes may be used aifectively by merely sliding the corner upwardly until the flanges 15 and 16 embrace the lower edges of the panels and driving nails through the holes 20.

Inwardly extending ears or projections 21 are provided in the panel 10 and similarly inwardly projecting ears-22 are provided in the panel 11. These cars 21 and 22 are spaced from the flanges 12 and 13 at the lower edges of the corner members a distance equal to,- or slightly greater than, the height of the shingles. Thus these projections or ears 21 and 22 engage against the upper edges of the shingles to hold the corner members from sliding downwardly. In the event the nails are used to hold the corner members in place, the ears 21 and 22 merely serve as additional means for holding the shingles and corner members in proper relation. However, in the event the corner members are applied after the shingles have been applied, the upper edges of the corner members must be inserted between the shingles which the panels 10 and 11 overlap and the lower edges of the overlapping shingles in the next tier above. In this event the corner members are forced upwardly until the ears 21' and 22 are above the upper edges of the shingles being joined by the corner members and these projections l'ock above the shingles to prevent the corner members from moving downwardly.

A second pair of projections are provided in the panels 10 and 11 to hold the various corner members in proper relation. These projections 23 and 24 in the panels 10 and 11 extend outwardly from the outer surface of the corner members where such corner members are designed to enclose outer corners. As indicated in Figure 4- of the drawings, the projections 23 and 24 engage at upper edges of the flanges 15 and 16 of the corner member next above, thereby locking each corner member from downward movement relative to the one next above.

The operation of the corner members has been mainly described in conjunction with the description thereof. However, it should be noted that these corner members are often applied after the angularly arranged walls are completely shingled. In such an event the corner members are usually attached from the upper end of the corner downwardly, the upper corner member being nailed or otherwise firmly aflixed in place.

Once the upper corner member is in place, the next below corner member may be readily attached by merely forcing it upwardly between the shingles it joins and the flanges 15 and 16 of the next corner member. The tendency for the shingles to lie flat along the walls to which they are attached exerts an inward force upon the upper end of the corner member being inserted. As a result the projections 21 and 22 are urged into position over the upper edges of the shingles being joined and the outward projections 23 and 24 engage over the upper edges of the flanges 16 and 17 thus forming a double lock to hold the corner members in place. As a result the corner members may be quickly attached, one after another, by merely forcing them upwardly into interlocking position.

One of the advantages of the structure described lies in the fact that if it becomes necessary to shorten the distance of overlap between shingles in order to avoid the necessity of applying an entire course of partial shingles at the lower edge of the wall, the inward pro jections 21 and 22 still engage the upper edges of these shingles even though the outward projections 23 and 24 are below the upper edges of the flanges 16 and .17. Thus the corner members will be held in place even though the usual amount of overlap between shingles is not present.

In Figure 5 of the drawings I disclose a modified form of construction designed for use with shingles which tend to crumble if only the short projections shown in the previous figures are employed. The various projections 21, 22, 23 and 24 are normally rounded projections having straight lower edges and such projections will normally hold the corner members from downward movement. However, where the shingles are formed of material which tends to crock or decompose, spring fingers such as 25 and 26 may be provided to engage the upper edges of the shingles. These spring fingers 25 and 26 extend inwardly from the angular panels 27 and 29, re-

spectively, and are shown held in place by tubular rivets 30 and 31. As shown in Figure 5, these fingers are curved or bent inwardly and are sufficiently resilient to flex against the inner surfaces of the panels to which they are secured as the corner members are forced upunder normal circumstances it is most economical to form the corner members out of relatively non-resilient material and to attach spring fingers of substantially more resilient material.

In accordance with the patent statutes, 1 have described the principles of construction and operation of my corner members and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A corner member for connecting angularly related siding panels arranged in vertically overlapping relation, each corner member including angularly arranged strips connected together, inwardly extending projections on said strips near the upper edges thereof designed to engage over the upper edges of the angularly related panels, flanges on the lower edges of said strips designed to underlie the lower edges of the angularly related panels, an upwardly extending flange on at least one of said first mentioned flanges designed to engage the inner surface of the at least one of said angularly related panels, and outwardly extending shoulder means on at least the said one of said strips designed to engage the upwardly extending flange of the corner member next above.

2. The construction described in claim 1 in which the projections are integral with the strips.

3. A corner member for use in connecting angularly related siding panels, the corner members including angularly related strips, a plurality of spaced inwardly and outwardly projecting ears on each of said strips near the upper edges thereof, the inwardly projecting ears arranged to engage the upper edges of the panels when said strips overlie the juncture between said angularly related panels, flanges on the lower ends of said strips engageable beneath the lower edges of said panels, and upwardly extending flanges on said first named flanges designed to engage inwardly of the lower edges of said panels in locking relationship with said outwardly projecting ears on an adjacent corner member near the upper edge thereof.

4. A corner member for use in connecting two angularly related siding panels arranged in vertical overlapped relation with similarly angularly related panels, the corner member including two connected angularly related strips, flanges at the lower ends of said strips designed to engage beneath a pair of angularly related panels, means for holding the lower ends of said strips against said pair of angularly related panels, shoulder means on said strips near the upper ends thereof engageable over the upper edges of said pair of angularly related panels, outwardly projecting shoulder means on said strips near the upper ends thereof but beneath the level of said first named shoulder means, said means for holding the lower ends of said strips against said pair of angularly related panels engaging outwardly projecting shoulder means of an overlapped second similar corner member, said shoulder means cooperating to hold the overlapped corner members and panels from relative vertical movement when interlocked.

5. The structure of claim 4 and in which said first named shoulder means comprise clips attached to said strips by means of tubular elements adapted to accommodate fastening nails.

6. The structure of claim 4 and in which said first named shoulder means comprise resilient spring strips bent to extend inwardly from said strips.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,056,521 Honan Oct. 6, 1936 2,188,090 Young Jan. 23, 1940 2,592,472 Schlaf Apr. 8, 1952 2,616,131 Gage Nov. 4, 1952 2,641,203 Coleman June 9, 1.953 

